The 2014 Major League Baseball season has its second no-hitter. More so, the Los Angeles Dodgers have their second no-hitter. This time, it was the highest-paid pitcher in history, Clayton Kershaw, who turned the trick Wednesday night, joining teammate Josh Beckett, who tossed his no-hitter on May 25. Kershaw’s feat is the 22nd no-hitter in franchise history and 12th for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Kershaw no-hit the Colorado Rockies, and he was as dominant as anyone could expect: 9 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, and 15 K — all on 107 pitches. See the highlights here with the legendary Vin Scully on the call for every out pitch. Kershaw’s 15 strikeouts are a new career high, and most of them came on a devastating breaking ball. In fact, as MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick noted, only three balls left the infield.
In addition, only one time did a batted ball appear to have a chance to go for a hit. In the seventh inning, Colorado’s Troy Tulowitzki grounded one hard right down the line. Third baseman Miguel Rojas snagged it and with his momentum carrying him into foul territory right at the edge of the outfield grass, threw across his body to nail Tulowitzki. First baseman Adrian Gonzalez scooped the short hop to complete the play and get Tulowitzki by a half step.
Only a Hanley Ramirez throwing error in the seventh inning kept Kershaw from a perfect game. Leading off the seventh inning, Corey Dickerson chopped one to the shortstop. Ramirez fielded it cleanly. The wild throw, though, got past Gonzalez to allow Dickerson to reach second and become the Rockies’ only base runner of the game. Kershaw later got his revenge on Dickerson, striking him out on a breaking ball to end the game.
Kershaw humorously gave kudos in recognition of his teammate’s similar feat last month. Said Kershaw,
“Beckett told me he was going to teach me how to do that, so I’ve got Josh to thank.“
ESPN’s June 18 edition of “Sportscenter” noted that Kershaw’s no-hitter is the third one ever thrown by a reigning Cy Young winner. The other two are Hall of Famers Bob Gibson and Sandy Koufax, making for some very elite company. Kershaw won the 2013 Cy Young award, his second (2011).
Kershaw understands the significance of the individual performance even in the heat of a pennant race:
“It was just so much fun, I can’t explain it. You don’t really think about doing something like that. You think about winning a World Series, but as far as individually, this ranks right up there. It’s pretty cool.“
It was pretty cool for us to see as well. Congratulations to Clayton Kershaw, arguably the best pitcher in the game today.
PHOTO CREDIT: (Harry How / Getty Images )